Hard-line rulers intensified a crackdown on the reform movement on Sunday by rounding up leading moderates to try to end street protests after deadly weekend clashes erupted during the Shiite Muslim religious ritual of Ashura. At least 18 opposition figures have been arrested since Sunday, including three senior advisers to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, his brother-in-law and a sister of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, opposition websites reported. Ebadi confirmed her sister’s arrest.Political turmoil has entered a new phase in Iran with bloody face-offs and arrests over the vote won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with security forces calling on the authorities to deal “firmly” with opposition leaders. The powerful Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday issued a statement accusing the foreign media and enemies of the revolution of joining hands to harm Iran’s establishment. Tens of thousands of people chanted “We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],” state television reported, saying the nationwide demonstrations had taken place spontaneously.
“Demonstrators demand the punishment of those behind Sunday’s protests which insulted religion,” state television reported, referring to the protests taking place during the holy ritual of Ashura. The scale of the pro-government demonstrations could not be independently verified because of restrictions on the foreign media’s movements, imposed as the rallies by supporters of the reformist movement gathered momentum.
Iranian authorities say eight people were killed in clashes on Sunday when supporters of Mousavi used the religious festival of Ashura to stage fresh anti-government rallies. Police said the “suspicious deaths” were being investigated, adding dozens of security men were injured in the clashes. Authorities blame what they call foreign-backed “terrorist groups” for the killings, including the death of Mousavi’s nephew Ali Habibi Mousavi Khamene. The Iranian government has repeatedly accused foreign powers of fanning the unrest.“What happened on Ashura day was an unsuccessful pre-planned scenario to harm the Islamic state’s image and weaken the system,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted the head of the volunteer Basij militia, Mohammadreza Naqdi, as saying.
